Leeuwarden

Leeuwarden, Frisian Ljouwert,
Leeuwarden: Sint Bonifatius Church Bouwe Brouwergemeente (municipality), northern Netherlands. Leeuwarden lies at the junction of the Harlinger-Trek Canal and the Dokkumer Ee Canal. Originally a port on the Middelzee (reclaimed since the 13th century), it was chartered in 1435, became the capital of Friesland in 1504, and was from 1582 to 1747 the residence of the Frisian stadtholders of the house of Orange-Nassau, ancestors of the present Dutch royal family. A noted centre of goldwork and silverwork in the 16th–18th centuries, it is now the economic centre of Friesland.

Leeuwarden is a rail junction, has an important cattle market (Friesland Hall), and processes dairy foods; it also functions as a service centre, specializing in government activities, education, and financial services. The city’s Frisian Museum is the most extensive provincial museum in the Netherlands, with comprehensive cultural exhibits. The Princessehof Museum has Oriental displays, and the Pier Pander Museum features works of that sculptor. Historic buildings include the Kanselarij, a Renaissance building and originally the seat of the Frisian government and law courts; the former Weighhouse (1598); the town hall (1724); the Oldehove (1529), an unfinished tower (130 feet [40 metres]) that leans slightly; and the Sint Bonifatius Church. Pop. (2007 est.) 92,342.

Click anywhere inside the article to add text or insert superscripts, subscripts, and special characters.
You can also highlight a section and use the tools in this bar to modify existing content:

Add links to related Britannica articles!
You can double-click any word or highlight a word or phrase in the text below and then select an article from the search box.
Or, simply highlight a word or phrase in the article, then enter the article name or term you'd like to link to in the search box below, and select from the list of results.

Note: we do not allow links to external resources in editor.
Please click the Web sites link for this article to add citations for
external Web sites.